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How Much Gear Ready in Advance?

I'm sure this varies depending on available storage space, but I'm wondering how much gear you like to have ready in advance, and how you decide how much to maintain.

How many extra boxes with frames do you like to have ready?
How many for brood, how many for honey?
If you use wax foundation, how far in advance do you put it into frames?
Is there a ratio of gear-in-use to gear-on-hand that works?

Last year, I found that I was caught at times without gear ready, and it really screwed me up. I was busy with work, and then I needed gear, and I had to find time to build it and get it in place. I hated that feeling, and I want to avoid it in the future.

Re: How Much Gear Ready in Advance?

My first season keeping bees was last year. I had enough equipment on hand for the two hives that I was planning on keeping. Then I started getting swarm calls and was building boxes and frames through most of the summer. I'm building 4 mediums this winter and half a dozen more bottom boards. If I use up the bottom boards I'm going to be donating swarms to other beeks.

Re: How Much Gear Ready in Advance?

With 30 hives all in double deep configuation (some with super of honey still on) I usually have 15-20 complete deep hives ready to go. I generally have usually 30-40 nuc boxes for splits, mating boxes, and swarm traps. I generally try to have 3 mediums boxes for each overwintered hives so I have about 80-90 mediums all with drawn comb.

I have a freezers full of deep honey and pollen frames for spring splits and still have 10 mediums supers of capped honey in the freezer.

You can never have to much equipment. I buy frames by the 100's. Usually have a hundred or so sheets of every size foundation.

Yeah. when you get bigger than backyard beekeeping it gets nuts without going into legit business.

Re: How Much Gear Ready in Advance?

I want three more hives with year, plus I've promised a swarm to someone else, and my brother want's a few more too. Therefore, I'm planning on having three complete hives (a deep and two mediums) with foundation installed by the end of March, five nuc sized hives, and whatever my brother wants as close to ready to use as possible.

At a minimum, I think all the hives you intend to start plus some extra boxes ready to grab swarms with should keep you in good shape. I'm going to do some splits this year (three, one from each hive) and move them into hives as soon as they fill up the nuc, plus intend to have some nucs available for swarms, not necessarily in that order (swarms wont' stay in a nuc long in my experience -- doesn't take them long to build up and a couple last year were so large they needed the full sized deep in a few days).

Make extras -- you won't regret it when you need a box to catch another swarm! Once in a while you will need a full sized box for a swarm, they sometimes are too large for a nuc box.

Re: How Much Gear Ready in Advance?

Adam, the answer to your question must reflect your plans for expansion, and the type of expansion you wish to pursue. I have about 40 hives counting a dozen nucs that I am over-wintering. I preassemble and paint as many deep boxes as I have nucs, since I expect to need them fairly early in the season.

The issue you are dealing with (I think) is being prepared for the unexpected. My answer for that is to precut extra boxes and stack them, ready to assemble. My frames and foundation are ready to assemble as well. I could throw a box and frames together in less than a half-hour, and put it into use without painting it if I was in a real hurry. Counting assembled and unassembled, I have 100% boxes in reserve as I currently have in use. It is amazing how many boxes you will use if you have them available.

Re: How Much Gear Ready in Advance?

As I recall you plan to expand: I suggest two empty hives (whole thing) for every overwintered hive you have; For honey 2-3 supers for every hive you have in production - at least with the supers they can be emptied and refilled.
The real loss is when you are not prepared for the spring expansion and a-swarmin-they-do-go.

Re: How Much Gear Ready in Advance?

A little bit more than you need.

I try to have at least 3 supers for each overwintered hive. And then I try to have a complete hive for half as many colonies as I have. So if I have 20 hives I try to have 10 hives ready to go for splits and swarms. I normally don't split every hive so this has worked out good the past couple years. Even if you only have one hive you have at least one extra hive ready to go for the unexpected swarm. It is very aggravating trying to throw a hive together while a prime swarm is sitting in a tree.

Re: How Much Gear Ready in Advance?

I run double deep brood chambers and deep supers. I think it's pretty well a minimum to have three supers per hive if you're trying to maximize honey production. In addition to that I make 5 deep supers for each split(Two brood chambers and three Honey supers). As others have said though depending on how fast you can extract more is always better, 3.5 to 4 deeps per hive is nicer... Guess it depends on what the average honey flow in your area is like too, up here it can come in pretty fast and crazy (occasionally 10 lbs in a day) and then end just as quickly so you have to be ready for it or miss the boat.

Re: How Much Gear Ready in Advance?

Always keep in mind that all the bee supply places are backed up when you will need equipment the most, because everyone else needs it then too... assume you'll have to get by without it for a while and plan accordingly. Always have a spare bottom and top, no matter how few hives you have and a few extra boxes (one per hive at least and that's cutting things close). As soon as you fall below that, order more. Be prepared. Sometimes you get a bumper crop and you can't seem to find enough supers...